Places I'd Like to Learn Better

Places I'd Like to Learn Better - Page Text Content

BC: So you have seen my favorite places in the world. I hope that in the future I will obligatory visit all of them. There are three problems: the lack of time, the lack of money for travelling and the rather big distances. But it is not the great problem if you really want to visit these places!!!

FC: Places I'd Like to Learn Better!! | by Andrew Bastrikov

1: There are a great number of places in this world which I want to visit. In this book I want to present my favorite places. I have been reading a lot about them but I still do not have a possibility to visit any of them. I hope that in the future I will visit at least some of them!!! The first is the Grand Canyon. | This mix-book includes the information about The Grand Canyon, Cape Town, the Taj Mahal , Machu Picchu, The Great Wall of China, Iguazu Fall, the island Santorini.

2: It is a huge rift in the Colorado Plateau . It is one of the six distinct physiographic sections of the Colorado Plateau province. It is neither the deepest canyon in the world (Kali Gandaki Gorge in Nepal is far deeper) nor the widest (Capertee Valley in Australia is about 0.6 mi/1 km wider and longer than Grand Canyon). But the Grand Canyon is known for its visually overwhelming size and its intricate and colorful landscape.

3: It fascinates me, impresses, forces to think When you look at it you can understand how insignificant the human in comparison with the nature. It is within the Grand Canyon National Park, one of the first national parks in the United States. The Grand Canyon is 446 km long, up to 18 miles wide and attains a depth of over a mile (1.83 km).

5: A few words from the history of the canyon should be said. The Colorado River basin (of which the Grand Canyon is a part) has developed in the past 40 million years. A recent study places the origins of the canyon beginning some 17 million years ago. Previous estimates had placed the age of the canyon at 5 to 6 million years.

6: Before European immigration, the area was inhabited by Native Americans who built settlements within the canyon and its many caves. The first European known to have viewed the Grand Canyon was Garcia Lopez de Cardenas from Spain, who arrived in 1540.

7: The Grand Canyon Association (GCA) is the National Park Service’s official non –profit partner raising private funds to benefit Grand Canyon National Park. It operates retail shops and visitor centers within the park, and provides educational opportunities about the natural and cultural history of the region.

8: Grand Canyon National Park is one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World and one of the Crown Jewels of the National Park System. Declared a national park in 1919 it draws nearly five million visitors annually to the lofty rims and world-class whitewater that await the active traveler.

9: The average visit to Grand Canyon is a scant two hours. Most agree that it can be an overwhelming spectacle to absorb during such a short time frame. The remote nature of the park, lack of public transportation to and from, and the fickle Grand Canyon weather can make it a challenging place to visit!

10: The next place which I’d like to visit is Cape Town. It is the second-most populous city in South Africa. It is the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape, as well as the legislative capital of South Africa. The city is famous for its horbour as well as its natural setting, including such well-known landmarks as Table Mountain and Cape Point. Cape Town is also Africa's most popular tourist destination.

13: Today it is one of the most multicultural cities in the world, reflecting its role as a major destination for immigrants and expatriates to South Africa. As of 2010 the city had an estimated population of 3.8 million. Such a huge city!

14: The centre of Cape Town is located at the northern end of the Cape Peninsula. The world-famous Table Mountain forms a dramatic backdrop to the City Bowl, with its plateau over 1,000 m (3,300 ft) high; it is surrounded by near-vertical cliffs. Sometimes a thin strip of cloud forms over the mountain, and owing to its appearance, it is colloquially known as the "tablecloth". The peninsula consists of a dramatic mountainous spine jutting southwards into the Atlantic Ocean ending at Cape Point. It's wonderful

16: The Cape Peninsula has a Subtropical Mediterranean climate with mild, wet winters, and dry and very warm summers. Cape Town has one of the highest levels of biodiversity in the world.It is home to a total of 19 different vegetation types, of which several are completely endemic to the city and occur nowhere else in the world.

19: This enormous species diversity is mainly because the city is uniquely located at the convergence point of several different soil types and micro-climates. An often quoted fact is that there are more indigenous plant species just on Table Mountain than there are in the whole of the British Isles!!!

20: The next place which I want to visit is the Taj Mahal. It is a mausoleum located in Agra, India. Taj Mahal is one of the most recognizable structures in the world. It was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal. It is widely considered as one of the most beautiful buildings in the world and stands as a symbol of eternal love.

22: Taj Mahal is the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements from Persian, Islamic and Indian architectural styles.

23: In 1983, the Taj Mahal became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Taj Mahal, it is actually an integrated complex of structures. The white domed marble mausoleum is the most familiar component. The construction began around 1632 and was completed around 1653, employing thousands of artisans and craftsmen.

24: The tomb is the central focus of the entire complex of the Taj Mahal. This large, white marble structure stands on a square plinth and consists of a symmetrical building with an iwan (an arch-shaped doorway) topped by a large dome and finial. Like most Mughal tombs, the basic elements are Persian in origin.

26: The exterior decorations of the Taj Mahal are among the finest in Mughal architecture. The decorative elements were created by applying paint, stucco, stone inlays, or carvings. In line with the Islamic prohibition against the use of anthropomorphic forms, the decorative elements can be grouped into either calligraphy, abstract forms or vegetative motifs.

27: The marble dome that surmounts the tomb is the most spectacular feature. Its height is about 35 metres. Because of its shape, the dome is often called an onion dome. The top is decorated with a lotus design, which also serves to accentuate its height. .

28: The complex is set around a large 300-metre (980 ft) square charbagh or Mughal garden. The garden uses raised pathways that divide each of the four quarters of the garden into 16 sunken parterres or flowerbeds.

29: The Taj Mahal attracts between 2 million and 4 million visitors annually, including more than 200,000 from overseas. It’s amazing!

30: The next place which I want to visit is Machu Picchu. It is a site located 2,430 metres above sea level. It is situated on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba Valley in Peru. Look how wonderful it is! Archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was built as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti (1438–1472). Often referred to as "The Lost City of the Incas", it is perhaps the most familiar icon of the Inca World.

31: The Incas started building it around AD 1400 but abandoned it as an official site for the Inca rulers a century later at the time of the Spanish Conquest. Since the site was never known to the Spanish during their conquest, it is highly significant as a relatively intact cultural site. Machu Picchu was declared a Peruvian Historical Sanctuary in 1981 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

32: Machu Picchu was built in the classical Inca style, with polished dry-stone walls. Its three primary buildings are the Intihuatana, the Temple of the Sun, and the Room of the Three Windows.

33: The ruins of Machu Picchu are divided into two main sections known as the Urban and Agricultural Sectors, which are divided by a wall. The Agricultural Sector is further subdivided into Upper and Lower sectors, while the Urban Sector is split into East and West sectors, separated by wide plazas.

34: The central buildings of Machu Picchu use the classical Inca architectural style of polished dry-stone walls of regular shape. The Incas were masters of this technique, called ashlar, in which blocks of stone are cut to fit together tightly without mortar. Many junctions in the central city are so perfect that it is said not even a blade of grass fits between the stones.

35: Inca walls had numerous design details that helped protect them against collapsing in an earthquake. Doors and windows are trapezoidal and tilt inward from bottom to top; corners usually are rounded; inside corners often incline slightly into the rooms; and "L"-shaped blocks often were used to tie outside corners of the structure together.

37: Since its discovery in 1911, a growing number of tourists visit Machu Picchu, reaching 400,000 in 2003. In the late 1990s, the Peruvian government granted concessions to allow the construction of a cable car and development of a luxury hotel, including a tourist complex with boutiques and restaurants.

38: The Great Wall of China is the next place which I’d like to know better. I hope that I will have a chance to visit it. It is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in northern China. It was originally built to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire against intrusions by various nomadic groups. Several walls have been built since the 5th century BC, which has been rebuilt and maintained from the 5th century BC through the 16th century.

40: The Great Wall stretches from Shanhaiguan in the east, to Lop Nur in the west, along an arc that roughly delineates the southern edge of Inner Mongolia. The entire Great Wall, with all of its branches, stretches for 8,851.8 km. This is made up of 6,259.6 km sections of actual wall, 359.7 km of trenches and 2,232.5 km (1,387.2 mi) of natural defensive barriers such as hills and rivers.

43: Before the use of bricks, the Great Wall was mainly built from rammed earth, stones, and wood. During the Ming Dynasty, however, bricks were heavily used in many areas of the wall, as were materials such as tiles, lime, and stone. The size and weight of the bricks made them easier to work with than earth and stone. Additionally, bricks could bear more weight and endure better than rammed earth. The wall is a maximum 9.1 m wide, and is about the same color as the soil surrounding it.

44: The next place includes Iguazu Fall. There are waterfalls of the Iguazu River located on the border of the Brazilian State of Parana and the Argentine Province of Misiones. I like them.The falls divide the river into the upper and lower Iguazu. The Iguazu River starts at the city of Curitiba and runs for the most part of the course in Brazil and at the end at the border of Brazil and Argentina.

47: The waterfall system consists of 275 falls along 2.7 kilometres of the Iguazu River. Some of the individual falls are up to 82 metres height, though the majority are about 64 metres . Two-thirds of the falls are within Argentine territory.The junction of the water flows marks the border between Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay. Most visitors reach the falls from the Argentine side through the city of Puerto Iguazu (Brazil).

48: I have already written that there are a lot of places which I want to visit. It is almost impossible to describe all of them in one book. But I wan to include one more place. It is Santorini. It is a volcanic island located in the southern Aegean Sea, about 200 km southeast from Greece’s mainland. Santorini is essentially what remains of an enormous volcanic explosion, destroying the earliest settlements on what was formerly a single island, and leading to the creation of the current geological caldera.

50: A giant central lagoon, more or less rectangular, and measuring about 12 by 7 km (7.5 by 4.3 mi), is surrounded by 300 m high steep cliffs on three sides. The island slopes downward from the cliffs to the surrounding Aegean Sea. On the fourth side, the lagoon is separated from the sea by another much smaller island called Therasia. The island is the site of one of the largest volcanic eruptions in recorded history: the Minoan eruption which occurred some 3,600 years ago at the height of the Minoan civilization. The eruption left a large caldera surrounded by volcanic ash deposits hundreds of feet deep and may have led indirectly to the collapse of the Minoan civilization on the island of Crete.

53: The expansion of tourism has resulted the growth of the economy and population. The major settlements include Fira, Oia, Emporio, Kamari, Perissa. It is a major archaeological site, with ruins from the Minoan era. Santorini's primary industry is tourism, particularly in the summer months.